Update on the March 2025 meeting
Page last updated: 28 November 2024
As announced by the Minister on 6 November 2024, to process the unprecedented number of submissions for the March 2025 meeting requiring full clinical and economic evaluation, the Australian Government is securing additional resourcing to increase evaluation capacity. This will enable an additional full meeting of the PBAC on 9-10 May 2025 and more submissions to be considered in March 2025. All submissions will be considered by May 2025.
The Department received 63 submissions for the March 2025 meeting of which 51 require full clinical and economic evaluation. Fully informed PBAC deliberations require that the Committee is presented with a full evaluation of submissions and input from the consumer consultation process. 51 submissions requiring full clinical and economic evaluation is unprecedented, and more than can be evaluated by suitable HTA service providers in Australia in time for the March 2025 PBAC meeting.
The Department has secured resources for evaluation of 34 submissions in time for the March 2025 meeting and is securing additional external evaluation resources for the remaining submissions to be considered in May 2025. Additional capacity is also being secured to enable submissions that do not require external economic evaluation (category 3, 4, and committee secretariat submissions) to also be considered by the PBAC at its March 2025 meeting.
Given potential impacts on patients, clinicians and sponsors, the Department sought the expertise of the PBAC to determine which submissions should receive external evaluation in time for its March 2025 meeting and its May 2025 meeting. The Department provided sponsors with an opportunity to provide further information to support the PBAC’s discussions. All additional information provided was considered by the PBAC as part of its discussions.
In formulating its advice, the PBAC took a patient-centred approach. It factored in clinical need, potential patient benefits, and the nature of the condition the medicines are intended to treat. The PBAC expects to receive fully evaluated submissions before it determines any advice to the Minister about listing medicines and vaccines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme or the National Immunisation Program designated vaccine determination. It has not formed any view on submissions to be considered at its meetings in March and May 2025.
At its March 2025 meeting, the PBAC will consider 46 submissions of which 34 will require external evaluation and of these, 28 present a complex economic evaluation (cost-effectiveness or cost utility analysis). That is the highest number of submissions presenting cost-effectiveness analyses considered at a single PBAC meeting based on the Department’s records going back 10 years. At its May 2025 meeting, the PBAC will consider the remaining 17 submissions.
Timeframes for the May 2025 meeting, including dates for commentaries and applicant responses, public consultation dates, subcommittee meetings and receipt of minutes, are now available in the PBS calendar.
